Suggestion for feeding in the AM???

[pgrhodes1]

Hi All,

I received my 4 new Discus from Kenny. Really incredible fish. Still can't believe I own something this beautiful. Now for the problem. I get up at 5:30 AM so I can get to work by 7. I've noticed with these 4 and my other 2 that they are NOT early risers. I can barely get them to eat anything before I leave and I worry because I do not get home until 4:30. That is a LONG time without food. They have a moon light at night and I turn the regular light on when I get up. I leave them alone while I shower then feed them so they can eat while I get ready. I then vacuum and water change before leaving. They won't eat anything besides frozen blood worms at the moment. I'm working on the FDBW placed in feeding cones but it will take time. They eat like pigs when I feed afterwork and are doing really well. Any suggestions???

Thanks,

Penny

[rickztahone]

Penny, do you live alone? I always hated this problem as well until I got my wife to do it with very SPECIFIC instructions. I had to see her do it like 3 times before I was convinced she had it.

There are also auto feeders, but you would have to feed dry food at that time.

[brewmaster15]

Penny,
I would put your normal tank lights on a timer and set them to go on an hour before you wake up. That will give them plenty of time to wake up and look for food. Generally the morning is when they are the least picky, so best time to feed new foods.

An autofeeder is a great addition for dry pellets and flakes once you have them eating these.

hth,
al

[jsullins]

Penny,
I would put your normal tank lights on a timer and set them to go on an hour before you wake up. That will give them plenty of time to wake up and look for food. Generally the morning is when they are the least picky, so best time to feed new foods.

An autofeeder is a great addition for dry pellets and flakes once you have them eating these.

hth,
al

agree with al my timer kicks the lights on @ 6 am when i get up, I fool around fix something to eat or drink and feed em around 630 and they all eat

[pgrhodes1]

Hi Al,

That is a GREAT idea. I have several timers at home and will give it a try in the morning.

THANKS!!!

Penny


Penny,
I would put your normal tank lights on a timer and set them to go on an hour before you wake up. That will give them plenty of time to wake up and look for food. Generally the morning is when they are the least picky, so best time to feed new foods.

An autofeeder is a great addition for dry pellets and flakes once you have them eating these.

hth,
al

[OC Discus]

Penny,

A good pellet will not foul the water as fast as some foods. If they are eating, you could try putting in some pellets on your day off and see how long it takes for them to be eaten. An hour or two shouldn't be a problem. I use Omega Kelp Pellets in the AM and a high protein food in the pm.

[sdrexler078]

Mine don't eat instantly in morning either. They eat but don't finish by time I leave for work so I just let it wait but by lunch time it's all gone so it not in too long then I do baby water change. Then I feed at night and do a 90% change. Never had a problem if I skip the water change at lunch. I just make sure to never skip my change at night. Some people do changes after every feeding but I have never found it necessary as long as I do change water at some point during the night

[pgrhodes1]

Hi there,

When I leave food in the tank it gets sucked up by my filter and my nitrates go up. I'm 20 miles from work so can't go home at noon. My Angles do really well. They eat everything I put in the tank so don't need to do water change for them in the AM. I've found with new fish it takes about 2 weeks to establish a routine. Using the timer has really helped. They ate well this AM and things went smoothly. Now I need to try and get them on flakes or pellets and adjust the amount to what they'll eat.



Thanks,

Penny



Mine don't eat instantly in morning either. They eat but don't finish by time I leave for work so I just let it wait but by lunch time it's all gone so it not in too long then I do baby water change. Then I feed at night and do a 90% change. Never had a problem if I skip the water change at lunch. I just make sure to never skip my change at night. Some people do changes after every feeding but I have never found it necessary as long as I do change water at some point during the night

[jsullins]

You could try feeding freeze dried black worms in the morning and beefheart or frozen in the evening when you will be able to start your water change after a reasonable time has passed.

[Cabe]

The eheim auto feeder works great. I have one feeding my discus fry twice during the day while I am at work. Just takes a little
experimenting to get it to dump the extact amount you want, after that it works great.

[pgrhodes1]

Hi Cabe,

I actually have one of these and will use as soon as I get these guys to eat eight flakes or pellets. Picky little suckers....:)

Thanks,

Penny


The eheim auto feeder works great. I have one feeding my discus fry twice during the day while I am at work. Just takes a little
experimenting to get it to dump the extact amount you want, after that it works great.

[pgrhodes1]

I thought I would try this with the feeding cones. Would you know how many cubes to leave 4 Discus??

Thanks,

Penny


You could try feeding freeze dried black worms in the morning and beefheart or frozen in the evening when you will be able to start your water change after a reasonable time has passed.

[aovifo]

My fish are also very lazy in the morning. Need 1-2 hours till they're really awake. Maybe it's like dogs that get their owners character... When I want them to eat early stronger light helps.

Blood warms are only treat or snake and not main food, they don't have all the nutrition values needed.

It takes time to new fish to get good eating habits. Maybe it's good idea to start with what they have eat before, and gradually change it to what suitable to you

Good luck

[rickztahone]

Hi there,

When I leave food in the tank it gets sucked up by my filter and my nitrates go up. I'm 20 miles from work so can't go home at noon. My Angles do really well. They eat everything I put in the tank so don't need to do water change for them in the AM. I've found with new fish it takes about 2 weeks to establish a routine. Using the timer has really helped. They ate well this AM and things went smoothly. Now I need to try and get them on flakes or pellets and adjust the amount to what they'll eat.



Thanks,

Penny

Simple remedy, just buy a prefilter for your filter inlet. Problem solved. The pre-filter will trap the food that would normally end up in your filter, and when you get home you can turn off your filters and rinse the pre-filter. I have been running pre-filters on all my tanks for years, and it makes a huge difference.

[brewmaster15]

Simple remedy, just buy a prefilter for your filter inlet. Problem solved. The pre-filter will trap the food that would normally end up in your filter, and when you get home you can turn off your filters and rinse the pre-filter. I have been running pre-filters on all my tanks for years, and it makes a huge difference.

You can also make a prefilter from the replacement sponges for Aquaclear 110 filters... They work pretty well and are dirt cheap . If you prefer a premade one... ATI Hydro sponges makes a kit with multiple fittings for outflows..

One of our sponsors, Kensfish.com sells these...

http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/aquarium-filters/ati-filter-max-3.html

I've used them before... work well

al

[OC Discus]

Petsmart has a small cylinder shaped filter that fits over the inlet of my canister. Also a heavier pellet like the Omega One tends to settle on the bottom instead of getting sucked in. I just got my first order of cobalt discus pellets yesterday and they also settle on the bottom rather than being sucked in by the filters.


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[pgrhodes1]

THANKS everyone for your suggestion!! Will these work on my Fluval FX6 canister? It has a huge intake.

Penny

[jsullins]

THANKS everyone for your suggestion!! Will these work on my Fluval FX6 canister? It has a huge intake.

Penny
yes you should be able to stretch it on there it fits all of my canisters and I have ran them on all my aqua clear intakes as well, it is called the Fluval edge pre filter. It is around 2 bucks or so at petsmart I dont remeber ever seeing one at petco but they might carry them. Here is a link to a thread that has some pics in it.
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?76327-Fluval-Edge-Pre-filter-sponge

[OC Discus]

That's the one I got. Beware if you have a strong filter it can attract a lot of junk. Needs daily cleaning to maintain flow.


yes you should be able to stretch it on there it fits all of my canisters and I have ran them on all my aqua clear intakes as well, it is called the Fluval edge pre filter. It is around 2 bucks or so at petsmart I dont remeber ever seeing one at petco but they might carry them. Here is a link to a thread that has some pics in it.
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?76327-Fluval-Edge-Pre-filter-sponge

[kris2341]

I'm not sure how easily one could be fitted onto an FX6 intake, but ATI has prefilter versions of their sponge filters as well, for the sake of keeping a lot of flow and a large surface area pre filter, the pond versions may work well with the FX6.

http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/aquarium-filters/ati-hydro-pond-filter-4.html

[pgrhodes1]

I think that just might work...will order ASAP.

THANK YOU!!

Penny


I'm not sure how easily one could be fitted onto an FX6 intake, but ATI has prefilter versions of their sponge filters as well, for the sake of keeping a lot of flow and a large surface area pre filter, the pond versions may work well with the FX6.

http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/aquarium-filters/ati-hydro-pond-filter-4.html

[kris2341]

Just keep in mind that you may have to get creative in mounting it, good luck!

[MKD]

I don't think It will work cause that monster filter is too strong and it's clogged very quick with in a day. Of course,depend on how much your feedings. You have to rinse it very often and may have to turn off during feeding.